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Electricity -- we depend on it every minute of every day. And yet to many of us, electricity seems a mysterious and even magical force. Before Ben Franklin did his famous and very dangerous kite flying experiment, electricity was thought to be a type of fire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think this is an excellent lesson to teach to grades 3-6. I am pleased with this lesson that it lists the lesson sequence, materials needed, and the objectives. I really like the variety that this lesson includes. It allows students to get up and move in acting out an electric circuit as well as get up close and personal with electricity and how it works with the activity. Not only does this lesson involve interactive components for students, it also provides many videos that correlate with the lesson. This lesson plan seems easy to follow with the instructional sequence and I think it would be easy to fit within the McKendree lesson plan template and add a bit of flair from the teacher candidate. I think this lesson also allows teachers to impose his or her own spin on the lesson and choose what parts to include or omit as well as what might need to be added to the lesson. A lesson like this with so much instructional variety helps to reach students that learn from hands-on activities, students who learn more visually, as well as students who learn best from discussion and instruction. I would follow the instructional sequence if I were to use this lesson in the classroom, but I would tailor it to fit my time allotment for teaching Science, thus it would be done in smaller segments. I would choose one or two videos to share with the class, but post the rest on our class website so the children could view them if the wanted to.

PBS's lesson on gravity is somewhat of a classic, dropping two objects of different weight from the same height. This lesson utilizes both hands-on experiments, videos, prediction, and a variety of other ways for students to stay engaged and involved in the lesson. Throughout the lesson students predict what may or may not happen to their own experiments, to those done on the moon, and comparatively between the two differing atmospheres. The resource is specifically valuable to me due to it's consistent student directed and inquiry-based nature, examples of higher order thinking questions can be found throughout the lesson. I can see this resource being used in the classroom during an introduction lesson to the concept of gravity, possibly taking place in multiple parts throughout a week or a unit.

Here's a great Science lesson for students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. This lesson helps students learn about magnets. Storytelling, journaling and teaching from the heart all play a part to make this an effective Science lesson. _____________________________________________________________________ This lesson is taught by Mr. Rutherford. This lesson discusses magnets and allows students to participate in hands-on learning. Students create a journal allowing them to follow what they are learning as well as keep track of the data they are finding. I chose this resource because not only does it give a good idea on an effective science lesson, but it also encourages teachers to be effective as well. I think this lesson is effective because it allows students to become engaged in their own learning. Mr. Rutherford allowed his students to be in charge of their learning, which helps keep all students involved in the lesson. I would definitely teach this lesson in my class. All the students seemed to stay focused on the activity. I would use this lesson to help students learn more about magnetism and how think can effect the magnetism of an object.

So, what does a parade and this lesson plan have in common? A lot of waves! People wave in a parade and this lesson is about waves. Get it? Oh well, that's why I'm a science teacher and not a stand-up comic. Anyway, last lesson we talked about vibrations and frequency. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a great lesson on waves! I think this particular lesson would be appropriate for 3rd through 8th grade. Of course there are adaptations that may need to be made to ensure that it meets the appropriate grade level needs, but overall, I think it would be an interesting and engaging lesson for many grades. This lesson does not include an exact instructional sequence but it is quite informative and teachers will be able to read through the lesson and choose what he or she wants to say about waves. I really like the funny little tidbits throughout the lesson. I really like that there are many experiments available to demonstrate and experience waves. Also, there is a short assessment at the end of the lesson which I think would be a great formative assessment and might even be a great resource for questions of a future summative assessment. Personally, I would use Plickers or iClickers with the assessment to gauge how well the children grasped the material.

What a fun lesson on paleontology. In this lesson, the teacher will see that it can be cut into three class sessions. You have to make sure to have a good discussion about modelling prior to this lesson. On this page you will find the complete lesson on how to go about introducing fossils to your students. Their are awesome guiding questions and good ideas for how to display this lesson in and to the class. The activity sounds pretty cool as well. Students get to bring in everyday items or things they have at home and use them to mold into a fossil. This will start conversation between them on how each others look and how different items make different fossils.

This website opens into a word document that has a TON of different lesson plans for K-1 grade level. The two lesson plans that I really liked were the Adventures in the Rain Forest, and What's the Point of That? The Adventures in the Rain Forrest talked about how living things are dependent on one another, and where they are at in relationship to their environment (the rain forest). The class will embark on a mini pretend field trip to a rain forest where they will discuss where certain things in a rain forest are located, and why it is important. This relates to the standard 12.B.1a really well! The other lesson plan that I really liked in this huge list was the one that was called, "What's the point?" In this lesson plan, the students learn different characteristics of living things and why it is important that they have them. (i.e. the importance of birds having feathers, etc.) I really like this lesson because students will really get a grasp on how all living things are different in a lot of ways, but the reasons behind why they are different. I'm all about celebrating our differences!

This is an entire unit on wetlands and it is completely free. There are five lessons on wetlands that each build on one another. I really like how the first lesson relies solely on the student's senses to experience wetlands. There are activities for each of the five senses that really get children engaged and in tune to what a wetland is. The second lesson teaches about different types of wetlands and includes a game to help learn them. Lesson three is great because it pairs this ecology lesson on wetlands with an English lesson on metaphors. It even includes objectives with measurable verbs, There are also great extension activities included! Each lesson in this unit plan has at least one video paired with it. I really like when there are videos provided, because teachers don'e have to use them, but they may if they choose. I would certainly use some of the videos that I thought would help better explain the context of the lesson, so visual and auditory learners would be able to better grasp the content. I could certainly see myself using this lesson in my future classroom. Especially since it is for upper elementary and middle school which are my ideal age group.

Photo Credit: Clipart.com To observe and document similarities and differences between parts of plants. While ideas of ecology, biology, horticulture, etc., are far too abstract for K-2 students, young children are curious about their living environment and are ready to be introduced to the idea that they live on this earth along with plants and animals. I love this lesson. Plants are something that can easily be brought into the classroom for observation and exploration. This lesson provides a way for students to explore and identify the different parts of the plant, while also being able to see the parts on an actual plant and not just from a picture. I would definitely use this type of lesson in my future classroom, even if I were teaching older children I would just alter and make the content more in depth.

This lesson gets students to not only observe and classify, but it will also help further students science skills and help them become a more detailed thinking. I like this lesson because it is hands on for young students. This lesson takes the students on a scavenger hunt to find similar parts of plants and then the teacher will bring them back together and act as a facilitator when asking them questions about what they think of their findings. They will then document their findings and how the parts of the plant may be similar or different.

This site provides a multitude of lesson plans for many different grade levels of science. Teacher notes, student copies, and examples are all given in the lesson guidelines. I have used Arkive in the past for projects and have found it very helpful. I imagine using these lessons as supplemental activities for the lessons I teach in biology.

This website provides procedures for creating static electricity using a variety of materials. The lesson also provides objectives and suggestions for "gearing up." The procedures are geared towards 6th and 8th graders but I can do the challenging demonstrations and just have my students observe. I like this lesson because it provides a variety of activities to show students how static electricity is made. There are activities provided in this lesson that would be appropriate for elementary students, and I will modify this lesson for my elementary students accordingly.

This site provides everything from objectives to assessment strategies and also lists related books and links for more information.

This is another lesson I found that would be great for a 5th grade astrology lesson.  This is a complete lesson that has students do research no computers do gather information on the solar system, after they have been through guided discussions.

In this lesson students earn the basic parts of seeds and what they need to grow into a plant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I cannot rave about this website enough. It is incredible. The lesson here is on seeds and this website has many portions of the McKendree template prepared already. There is an introduction, instructional sequence, resources, materials, and assessment. I really appreciate the depth of this lesson. It starts with an engaging introduction to get kids thinking and then allows for group work and a hands-on opportunity with seeds. I really like that kids get to hear what the parts of a seed are, view it on a diagram, and also witness it inn reality with an actual seed. This site provides an accompanying video from Sesame Street as well as other websites that would extend the lesson if desired. I would absolutely use this lesson in my classroom. I think something like seeds could be seen as a "boring" topic to some children, but if I used this lesson, I think it would help the topic to come alive and really get the children engaged. I would carry out this lesson as it is constructed, but add my own flair where needed.

This is a full lesson and activity provided by TeachersPayTeachers and it costs $3.00. The lesson and activity is aligned with NGSS-2-LS2-1. First the lesson will be taught to explain the importance of sunlight and water to plants. After the lesson is taught, the class will conduct an experiment to test what we just learned. I will have 3 plants. One will receive water and sun everyday. One will be in the closet and only receive water. The last one will just be in the window receiving sunlight. Since purchasing the lesson from TeachesPayTeachers you will also receive a lab journal for students to be able to write their predictions and record their observations. I chose lesson/activity because I thought it went well together. I like that is starts with the lesson then has a follow up activity for students to do. The science journal is something they can do throughout the week, also. I would use this lesson to introduce the topic of "Do plants need water and sunlight to grow" and have the activity has a follow up and something that could expand their knowledge throughout the week.

This website is more for the experiment that you might do after teaching a lesson. This particular experiment is the old fashion "making a volcano". I believe that students can learn from this experiment. There is an objective on the understanding of volcanoes and guiding questions at the end. I would probably do this experiment in the middle of the week for lessons on volcanoes. I would definitely give my students background knowledge on what volcanoes are, how they are formed, and what happens when they erupt. I would then have them do this experiment. After, the website gave a great idea for a homework assignment such as, looking into the volcanoes we have on earth and possibly writing a paper on them. I enjoy experiments, especially in science so I believe this would be great for any lesson involving volcanoes.

This is a cute idea to incorporate visual arts into a science lesson plans. I loved using Crayola lesson plans when I was teaching pre-school. This lesson is cute because it deals with baby animals and the students get to work on fine motor skills as well. Be sure to check out the rest of the website.

This resource is a lesson plan to help students understand animal diversity. I selected this resource because it gives the lesson plan and it also gives you ideas on how to extend the lesson into future lessons. I would use this lesson during my lesson segment on plant and animal biodiversity to get the students thinking about animal diversity.

This website includes lesson plans and activities to use in conjunction with Weather Channel's classroom program "Elementary Weather". Specifically, it includes weather concepts, scientific method, climate, weather terms, and the water cycle. It gives five lessons with background information, objectives, procedures, outcomes, prep time, materials, and standards. I chose this resource for a number of reasons. It's cross-curricular in at least one other area, provides handouts, has extension and modification plans, includes hands-on lessons, assessment tools, and a long-term project. I see myself using this in the classroom because there are many different directions each lesson can take. Modifications and extensions are important in our districts to meet the needs of diverse learners. I put a $ in the tags in case purchase of the videos is necessary.

This pdf file provides many different lessons on weather for many different grade levels. The pdf file assist the students in understanding the meaning behind the weather as a whole and gives great insight into what students need to do during these weather conditions. I believe that these lesson while give students great insight into how weather works as well as provide the teacher with many different ways to teach the lesson or grade level.

For this activity you would need a glove, 5 cotton balls, and 5 different types of plant seeds. Label the fingers of the gloves, wet the cotton ball but rid the excess water, place one seed and one cotton ball in the correctly labeled finger of the glove and watch the seeds grow. You can plant cotton ball and seed in garden once they sprout. I chose this because I think that kids really enjoy growing their own plants. I have worked with children and done this before and they love to check on them daily and then be able to take home and grow. I also chose this because each individual child gets their own plants and individual participation for fairly inexpensive project. As we begin a lesson on plants, we would plant our own plants to watch them grown throughout the unit. We would also be able to journal about our plants and their changes over time.

This lesson involves watching plants grow from seeds. Students use a glove and place one seed in each of the fingers and thumb. A damp cotton ball is added to hydrate the seeds as they grow. Students can watch their seeds grow into seedlings and eventually transplant elsewhere to become full grown plants. I would add some things to this lesson (such as a daily or weekly journal to document the growth of the seeds). I chose this because during an observation I saw this lesson in action! The students (grade 1) loved it and were excited to see what their seeds were doing each day and excited to know that when the seedlings were big enough, they would be planting them outside their school. It's valuable to me because I think it's important for students to understand the plant cycle and to appreciate the act of growing things (not just trees or flowers, but we can grow our food too!) I would use this lesson with different books to get the students engaged; I would use journals to monitor and make predictions about our seedlings as well.

This is a great website that has tons of free mini-lessons. I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom if you did not have time for a complete science lesson that day. You could find one that applys to the topic that you are covering and present that mini-lesson to the class. The lessons cover many different topics. I looked through the lessons and many of them I believe would keep the students actively engaged. Even if you did not completely follow the mini-lessons, you could use them as a reference.

Some of these seem a bit advanced for k-5.

To understand that there are different systems within the body and that they work independently and together to form a functioning human body. At this level, children can begin to view the body as a system, in which parts do things for other parts and for the organism as a whole. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This lesson is great because it includes the materials needed, the context of the lesson, an instructional section, and an assessment section. I also really like the "Motivation" section. This seems like the introduction on the McKendree template. I like how this lesson provides verbal prompts that the teacher can use to help guide the students to the correct answer if needed. It seems quote informative and discussed the major systems of the human body. Finally I really enjoy that there are extension activities available with the interactive human body system from innerbody and the body system word find from Discovery Kids and the interactive body system games from All Systems Go. I could certainly see myself using this lesson in my classroom. I think it provides the freedom for tweaks and add-ons as I would see fit and I love the interactive sites and games provided to correlate with the lesson. Also, I think this lesson would be a good fit for many age groups. I think there are some things that would need to be either added or taken away for some ages, but in all it would match will with many.

looks good!